US Online Passport Renewal

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Author

Lawrence Wu

Published

July 7, 2025

Based on this WSJ article, America Has Pulled Off the Impossible. It Made Getting a Passport Simple, I learned that it’s now possible to renew your US Passport online. I thought this was too good to be true so I tried going through the process. I found out I was eligible!

The main points of eligibility are below. Too bad you cannot do this for kids. - The passport you are renewing is or was valid for 10 years, and you are age 25 or older.  - The passport you are renewing is either expiring within one year or has expired less than five years ago. - You are not changing your name, sex, date of birth, or place of birth. - You are not traveling for at least 6 weeks from the date you will submit your application. We will only offer routine service, and the time it takes to get a passport will be the same as renewing by mail.

The process was pretty easy on a phone:

The application process was relatively pain-free and I was delightfully surprised. Gone are the days of making an appointment at a post office, paying for passport pictures. Love it.

Timeline: